It looked like the Sounders were going to win it after 90 minutes off an earlier goal from Osvaldo Alonso. But Darlington Nagbe gave the Timbers the equalizer in the final minute of stoppage time which sent them into extra time. (There is no draw in an elimination match in the US Open Cup.)

They fought so hard there was a power surge in the stadium lights! That’s not exactly a metaphor either. The lights actually did dim by quite a bit early in extra time. And let me tell you, even though the 4,233 in attendance were quite loud, I still think I heard every photographer exclaim at the same time “Oh come on!”. It was bad enough with the later 7:30 start at a stadium which doesn’t have great lighting. But in extra time, after the sun had long disappeared beneath the horizon, the bad lights got even worse.

Not much you can do but crank up the ISO and hope for the best.

In the end, the Sounders scored twice in the second period of extra time, once again knocking the Timbers out of the Open Cup, and advancing to the semifinal round for the seventh time in eight years.

This coming Sunday, the two teams will face off again in MLS action. This time, in front of about 63,000 more fans down at CenturyLink Field. This should be interesting.